


Feel You Breathe Me

by wasp



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 17:19:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasp/pseuds/wasp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry curls protectively around Niall like it's second nature and softly brushes his lips against the nape of his neck. (Harry helps Niall with the pain from the braces.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feel You Breathe Me

He's not explicitly told he _has_ to get braces, it's merely a suggestion that gets repeated and he gets handed brochures like that’s even a thing anymore. Niall flicks over the brochures with mild interest, tongue running across his crooked teeth absentmindedly. They’ve always wanted to get Niall braces, his parents; they just couldn’t afford it before all this. He doesn’t mind it, they could definitely be better but it’s not like he spends time obsessing over them – Niall doesn’t have time for that. They tell him his smile is going to be on billboards and magazines like it’s going to be the deciding factor.

Niall’s never been overly self-conscious but a thought niggles in the back of his head. His mind wanders to the flood of tweets regarding his teeth and it starts to seep in for a moment. He thinks _okay_ , and anyway, it’s free right?

He gets driven to the dentist and goes through the whole process. It feels odd for the first few hours, having all that metal against the soft skin of his mouth. It’s just different is all; he doesn’t think much of it. The next few days are pretty much fine, it takes him a little longer to eat and he’s had so much fucking soup he thinks he’s going to barf but it’s fine. The wires cut into the skin inside his mouth and it’s sore but he gets to be surrounded by his family in Mullingar for Christmas and it doesn’t seem to matter all that much.

Until he wakes up in the middle of the night and he can’t even describe the pain, wants to rip his fucking teeth out although that probably wouldn’t help at all. Niall can’t fall asleep, his mouth going slack from the insistent discomfort. He manages to find some pain killers in the medicine cabinet and swallows the pills down dry, his face screwed up.

He takes a shuddering breath and trips on his way back to his bed, wonders how much Christmas food he’s not going to be eating tomorrow.

~

After the first few weeks, it’s all relatively good again. The inside of his mouth are still terribly sore but he’s got creams for that. He’s a bit slow to smile, feels uncomfortable as much as he fights it but nobody mentions it.

~

He has to get them tightened each month and Niall can’t help but dread it. The first time he gets them tightened, Niall wakes up with that horrid metallic taste in his mouth and he gropes around blindly at the bedside table for the painkillers he’s started keeping. He realises he’s not in his room at Mullingar but in a hotel room, in the middle of a tour, and he tries not to smash his face against is pillow because that’ll indent the metal deeper into his skin.

He doesn’t bother pulling on a shirt when he pushes open the door into Harry’s adjoining room. They don’t ever lock the door and he’s never been more grateful.

Niall remembers Harry had a headache after a day packed with interviewers, laying down with his head in Niall’s nap, his eyes shut against the bright lights. Someone from their team had given him their tablets and Niall had run his fingers through his curls and watched his jaw unclenched with fascination.

“Harry,” Niall whispers in the dark, approaching the bed slowly. His eyes are taking their sweet fucking time to adjust to the darkness. His knees bump against the bed and Niall shivers, cold prickling his skin. He reaches out and his hands wrap around Harry’s bare arm. “Haz, wake up – do you have any painkillers?”

Harry tries to shovel himself back into his pillow but Niall sits down on the bed and hisses when he accidentally clenches down on his teeth. Harry finally moves, blinking blearily at him before realising that there’s definitely something wrong with the way Niall’s got his freckled shoulders set.

“Whassa matter?” Harry says, sleep fading from his voice. He grabs his bag off a chair and starts rummaging blindly through it before pulling them out. He hands them to Niall and pours him a glass of water from his water bottle and tilts it against his mouth.

He puts the glass down when Niall’s finished and sits down next to him on the bed, wrapping his arms around Niall and resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Just my braces,” Niall says in answer to the previous question, “hurts like a bitch.”

Harry doesn’t say anything for a moment, just stays wrapped around Niall, keeping him warm with his skin soft from sleep. Niall wants to shrug it off, laugh and go back to his room but he’s sleepy and Harry’s presence is comforting.

“Sorry,” Harry says unnecessarily and sweeps his broad palm down Niall’s back. He presses his face against Niall’s shoulder blade, his mouth moving against skin when he says, “You wanna sleep here tonight?”

“Alright,” Niall says and lets himself be pulled down, Harry pulling the covers around them. Harry curls protectively around Niall like it's second nature and softly brushes his lips against the nape of his neck.

“Go to sleep,” he says, voice low and scratchy and Niall suddenly feels hot and shivery, gets Harry wrapped around him tighter for his efforts.

~

It’s inevitable, he needs to get them tightened the next month and this time he takes a couple of pain killers before he goes to the dentist. He returns with a tentative smile, he’s not one to complain, really.

He opens another tub of yoghurt and tries not to pull a face after the first bite. He likes yoghurt but he’s hungry and after that one time he’d tried to eat a peanut and teared up from the actual hell that was unleashed in his mouth, he’s not going to risk it. He licks at his teeth, over the sharp edge of his braces and tries to remember how long it’s been since he took something. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and swallows another spoonful.

“Nialler,” Harry calls out cheerfully, sliding into a seat next to him. He throws his arms around his torso and immediately sinks down comfortably, his face resting against his back. “You alright?” he asks and Niall can feel the vibrations from his throat through the thin material of his sweater.

Niall shrugs because it could be a lot worse and he’s not going to start complaining because some pieces of wires are trying to bleed his mouth raw. He’s just so fucking hungry and he wants a taco or Nandos, anything he can bite into without slices of pain shooting up into his gums.

Harry nuzzles his face into Niall’s shoulder, biting gently at the bone of his shoulder. Niall snorts because it tickles and Harry shifts to press his smile against Niall’s pulse.

~

Niall’s learning to deal with them a lot better now, he knows how to avoid cuts and his skin toughens up over the months. He knows to take painkillers before he goes to get them tightened every month, to keep them handy for a couple days after because they’ll be sore and sensitive. Ice-cream helps a lot. He’s not scared to cut himself on his smiles anymore and stops’ self-consciously pulling his lips over them because he gets Harry’s shining ones in return.

Still, he wakes up with sweat rolling down his back and he thinks _shouldn’t he be used to this by now_. This time there’s another body in his bed, curled around him like he’s supposed to have been there all along. Harry blinks awake immediately and he reaches over Niall for the glass of water and pain killers.

Niall tries for a thank you but groans instead, almost choking on the pills in his haste to get it down. He puts the water glass down and squeezes Harry’s shoulder in a silent thank you, still overwhelmed. He doesn’t remember Harry slipping into his bed in the middle of the night but it’s not like this is the first time or he even minds.

Harry grabs his hand, threads their fingers together and pulls Niall back down onto the bed, laying down on his side to talk to him.

"Is it any better?" Harry asks, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Niall lies, tentatively licks the inside of his mouth and nods. “Yeah, it’s nothing.”

Harry looks at him for another moment, dimple appearing between his eyebrows, his eyes thoughtful. He doesn’t say anything though or calls him out on his lie, just scoots forward so their noses brush against each other. He tilts his chin against the pillow and barely presses his lips against Niall’s before pulling back.

"Does that hurt?" he asks and curls his other hand around Niall’s collarbone, thumbing at his pulse point.

“No,” Niall says and his breath hitches, finds out it isn’t exactly a lie either.

Harry smiles at him then, brilliant in the darkness of the room and Niall smiles back tentatively, licks at his lips for a second. Harry tracks the movement and moves his hand to touch the dimple of his chin, almost reverent.

Niall moves forward this time, accidentally bumping their noses together before brushing their lips together again gently and wonders if Harry can feel the fluttering under his ribs through their joined hands resting between them.


End file.
